I borrowed this audio from Queer Liberation Library!
This is a pretty effective zombie novella with strong themes of queer acceptance and righteous anger. A void in the cosmos is causing straight people to become irrational and violent towards queer folk for one night a year. A group of friends attempt to escape to Joshua Tree to wait out the event. It doesn't go well. Heavy COVID allegories, as straights refuse the vaccine and ignore precautions

You may have noticed that I've been doing a read-through of the Lady Mechanika series. The upcoming volume has started its Kickstarter campaign; while the new issues are a continuation of the main storyline, if you are interested in dipping your toe, you can pledge $15 and start at the beginning with Vol. 1 (and support independent comics)!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eljoebenitez/lady-mechanika-the-mechanical-...

#tuesdaytunes We had the absolute delight of seeing country star Pam Tillis in concert Friday. She had shows in Anchorage and Fairbanks, and graciously added a show on the peninsula in a local high school. It was a great night of prime country music and stories of her life.

One of her biggest hits includes some literary references:
https://youtu.be/D1OVMyJbJwE

2025 Nominees have been announced!

https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards/

Library cover vs. the cover I had growing up. I think they did a reissue of her books when I Know What You Did Last Summer became a movie.
A teen nearing high school graduation develops psychic abilities that catch the attention of a local police officer.
This was a fun read, until the end. Very predictable twist, very toxic/borderline inappropriate relationship.
It was interesting to read this and The Dead Zone at the same time 😋

King writing about a political clown goofing his way into office spelling certain disaster, decades before Drumpf disgraced the White House. I hated James Franco as narrator; he sounds either hung over or bored for the majority of the audio. It was a well constructed story, though, with lots of foreshadowing and good payoff. #losersclub #constantreader

Recommended by @WildAlaskaBibliophile :
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I absolutely loved this! I loved the story, the characters, the art, the message, the relationships.
Snap is a weird kid who is trying to find her place in the world. She befriends another social exile at school as she also investigates the town witch. Both actions have huge impacts on her life.

I completed my first gallon of blood donations with the Blood Bank of Alaska this week! #5joysfriday @DebinHawaii

A quiet book about a quiet man. Bookended by a year in his old age, we examine different eras of Bob's life. I think Patrick deWitt is one of the finest modern authors, so I really enjoyed reading this novel, but I think I lost the thread when it flashed back to Bob's runaway. Still, Bob is probably one of my favorite main characters I've read about in a while.

I really enjoyed this series, more so than a lot of older comics I've read recently. Batman is settling into his role in Gotham when a villain known as the Reaper starts to terrorize the city. A vigilante from the past, the Reaper's return rattles Batman, as he is a violent, murderous reflection of our dark knight. Batman has to reconcile with his own self-imposed limits while also confronting Joe Chill in a fascinating side story.

@WildAlaskaBibliophile usually crank the 80s and 90s country hits during road trips, and this weekend we spent Saturday in Homer. A song from this album popped up. This was an early favorite of mine; I grew up with country music from my mom and classic rock from my dad. This was one of the early country-pop crossover hits, but I think it was well-balanced. https://youtu.be/hU0nP9dcI_w
#tuesdaytunes

Happy Peter Pan Day! I have this reminder hanging on the printer next to my desk at work. 🧚‍♂️

I got this beautiful connecting cover set through the last Kickstarter campaign, and I'm finally caught up on this series.

Lady Mechanika is still working solo as her partnership with Mr. Lewis remains strained. She is called to Serbia to hunt a lake monster that may be responsible for the disappearance of a research team. A sweet, heartbreaking story. I enjoyed this guest artist, Siya Oum, more than the artist on Vol 6.

I am wanting to do a re-read of some of the Marvel Star Wars comics soon. I am familiar with Sana, but I only remember bits and pieces of her character, but this is a solid comic even without any history. A dysfunctional family heist/rescue mission with lots of twists and improvisation. Good art and entertaining characters.

#tuesdaytunes

The non profit radio station in Philly, WXPN, has a program called Kid's Korner at 7p EST. We loved it growing up, and I still catch every now and then, especially since it comes on at 3p Alaska time, the middle of my work afternoon. They were celebrating a belated May the 4th, and played this delightful little Star Wars ditty. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/pjBAiroabUI

@WildAlaskaBibliophile indulged my fandom with a gift of this Star Wars logo Lego set. I spent a couple hours yesterday on my replay of Jedi: Fallen Order, then we built Legos together until it was time for errands and cooking. Happy Belated May the 4th!

I really enjoyed this manga series and this was an excellent ending to the story. A gay man and an asexual woman marry to avoid unwelcome societal pressure of being adult and single. In past volumes, there were tons of flashbacks, but this volume spends the majority in the present, dealing with familial tension and concerns about the future.

Patrick Horvath's new one-shot comic about a future where the 1% either donate half of their wealth or fight to the death to try to keep it all. Short and to the point, with plenty of violence and tension. After the success of Beneath the Trees and this, he is definitely a creator to watch.

A cute book, quick read. Themes of consumerism, online safety, labor unions, and community. While I may not be the target audience for this book, I really enjoy Jen Wang's art, and I'd like to read more from Cory Doctorow.

@TheAromaofBooks #bookspin #bookspinbingo
May 2025

Thanks to @debinhawaii for this giveaway a while back!

This features several stories that examine the tension of claiming Hawaii as home: people who were born there, people who left and came back, people who weren't born there but lived most of their lives there, and outsiders/tourists. Definitely some new-to-me perspectives and themes. Well written and easy to get caught up in the stories!

This was entertaining enough, but a little disappointing overall. The Batman/Elmer Fudd issue rightfully got the most attention, but the Wonder Woman/Taz issues was also fun, and the Martian Manhunter/Marvin the Martian was a good idea, if a little lazy in execution. Lobo/Road Runner was overly silly. Johan Hex/Yosemite Sam was overly serious. Legion of Superheroes/Bugs was just bad. The 8-page looney comics were also bad.

#tuesdaytunes

Candi Staton, maybe best known for “Young Hearts Run Free,“ covered a country hit titled “He Called Me Baby,“ and it completely transforms the song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CTvhlWA0HY (Candi's)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6dpIEtUhRg (Original by Charlie Rich)

Candi has had a career spanning 50 years, releasing her latest album in February, her first following her battle with breast cancer.

We saw the movie Sinners on Saturday, and I can't stop thinking about it! A superb film.
I could help but think of Ring Shout, which has a very similar vibe, as well as Bitter Root and The Ballad of Black Tom. I've also heard others compare it to The Reformatory and Blackheart Man.
But, if you are in the mood for a bloody vampire tale with amazing music, brilliant acting, and a stellar story, even before the vampires, go see Sinners!

#5joysFriday @debinhawaii

- I passed my CHAA exam
- We got first place in bar trivia for the first time
- Papa Murphy's has dairy-free cheese options
- @wildalaskabibliophile made me a Sazerac, and it was a freakin' delight! I had been gathering ingredients but hadn't made one yet.
- Words cannot describe the joy that Dick Van Dyke exudes. Found this on Instagram from a few days ago https://www.instagram.com/p/DIsBYq_zWWo/

I wanted to like this more, but it was a little repetitive reading about rebels living in the ice caves and oppressed workers fleeing Bespin. It felt like 80% of the stories were either on Hoth or Cloud City. There was also less creativity in the formatting; mostly straight prose. Still, there was enough in here to make it an enjoyable read.
#bookspin

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

I got in the habit of keeping $10-20 in the car for tolls when I lived in the lower 48, but since there aren't toll roads in AK, I've fallen out of the habit. I don't often carry cash in my wallet. 💵

There have been some cool stories of a stripped-down Batman, but for the most part, his tools and gadgets are a big part of his character. 🦇

This webcomic was started in 2013. It follows the story of Patrik the Vampire, switching back and forth through several periods of his life. He is certainly a loveable, but flawed, character, and the story goes to some interesting places; however, the artist last posted about three and a half years ago, so who knows if it will continue. Do you have a favorite webcomic that was never concluded?

patrikthevampire.com/about

#tuesdaytunes

I am not at all current on pop music, which really hampers our bar trivia performance. Our trivia host gives weekly hints, and they were having a category on Coachella, so I did some research before, and, not only did I learn about an excellent song and artist, but it was a trivia question (we still came in 5th, but I got that question right 😜)

https://youtu.be/XoiOOiuH8iI?si=_miU_VdmijFkf-YF

@WildAlaskaBibliophile and I enjoyed some chocolate milk spiked with chocolate vodka, served in a hollow chocolate bunny, while watching an episode of Batman '66 with Egghead (and an unfortunately whitewashed American Indian character). I always looked forward to this character's episodes being aired on TV Land on Easter 🤣

Mini book haul from the past couple weeks. Two new, one used from ThriftBooks.

#5JoysFriday @debinhawaii

1. Andor Season Two starts next week!
2. Lots of announcements from Star Wars Celebration, including a new Maul animated series.
3. Trailers for Superman are looking good
4. My sweet, loving, caring wife, and new cat. Our dog is feeling better, too!
5. My new 17“ stuffed Peep, because I'm an adult, and if I want to spend my money on a tie-dye bunny to comfort me as my country is destroyed, that's what I'm going to do!

I have had a rough time lately, mentally. I'm stressing about an upcoming certification exam. I've been sick for two weeks now with some respiratory virus. I've been getting garbage sleep. I've had to listen to deplorable people use their platform to disparage transgender, asexuals, anti-war protesters, immigrants, AmeriCorps, and people with autism. And I've spent way too much time on Facebook seeing people (or bots, who the f knows) celebrate.

@eggs #wondrouswednesday

1. Recursion by Blake Crouch was an engaging story expertly executed. Top-tier sci-fi.

2. Several, unfortunately, (People Love Dead Jews (poor narration), At 30 I Realized I Had No Gender (not what I expected)), and at least one that I wish I had (Sailor Twain)

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday

1. I don't know that I've ever failed to file before March. Granted, my taxes have always been very simple, but I don't like to wait.

2. Varied 😁

Of course, after posting about his upcoming book, I went down a rabbit hole and learned that, as well as a legendary actor, Sir Hopkins is an accomplished composer. I can't find his album anywhere, but there is evidence of at least one song, including this video of Rieu playing in the first public performance of a waltz Hopkins wrote 50 years prior.

https://www.classicfm.com/artists/andre-rieu/sir-anthony-hopkins-watches-waltz/

#tuesdaytunes

A huge piece of Lady Mechanika's past is revealed as we learn about the time immediately following her reawakening with her mechanical limbs. A sad, brutal story, but, as always, beautifully told and beautifully expressed through the art. One more volume until I'm caught up, and Joe Benitez just announced that the newest volume will hit Kickstarter soon!

Thanks for sharing, @theludicreader. From readyourcolor.com

The Purple Reader is The Unbound Innovator—a bold, unconventional thinker who thrives on experimental storytelling and genre-defying narratives. They read to challenge norms, stretch their imagination, and fuel radical creativity. After finishing a book, they want to feel intellectually awakened and creatively invigorated, as if they've glimpsed a new way of seeing the world.

I can't imagine that this will be anything less than brilliant, especially in audio. Releasing November 4.

So many of these movies are on my To-Watch list, but I did better than I expected.

There are the three I've seen that shook my core. Not necessarily the best or my favorite, but the most memorable:

The Father - A mind-blowing, soul-crushing portrayal of dementia
The Tree of Life - More than a few walked out of the screening I was in. I don't know if I liked it, but it was art
The Substance - Not for the squeamish, but brilliant

#tlt @dabbe

The newly announced Star Wars: Master of Evil by Adam Christopher (author of the bestselling Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith) chronicles Vader‘s haunting pursuit for the power to conquer death. Take a look at the creepy cover reveal with art by Simon Goinard, and get your hands on this sinister story on November 11, 2025.

https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-celebration-2025-lucasfilm-publishing-pa...

@bookwormahn

*Sigh* My second bail of the month. I'm sure this may be interesting to some people, but the first handful of "life lessons" discuss how they decide to wear their hair, what kind of glasses to buy, and what gender to select on their health monitoring app. Not exactly riveting reading for me. I guess it provides insight into the decision making of an intersex person, but that is not what I'm in the mood for now.

A comprehensive profile of a legendary Western figure. To avoid hero-worshipping, the author used three historical texts as his main source of information. An often tragic tale of a woman who yearns for the freedom of the plains, but is forced into female-appropriate roles in the communities she interacts with. The sketch-style art is serviceable, but rarely memorable. As a fan of graphic memoirs, though, it is an excellent offering.

Ahh, this was the boost I needed! I've been sick for the past four days, and not really feeling any better today. Forcing myself to work, since we are trying to save PTO for vacation, but I have a dr appt in a couple hours. Thankfully, the trailer for Murderbot has dropped, and it is marvelous. We are even going to get to experience The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon!

https://reactormag.com/murderbot-adaptation-trailer-martha-wells/

Another day, another POS sounding off about things they don't understand. I don't care about HP; therefore, don't care about JK. I don't agree with her AT ALL about trans issues, though there could be room for empathy if she made any attempt to grow from the reaction. But this just proves she is fine being uninformed and delights in causing controversy. She has no skin in this game. She is just a miserable person and she can f*ck all the way off.

I am just not vibing with this narrator. I'll have to try again in print another time...

I really dislike the practice of re-releasing albums as deluxe or expanded editions within months of the initial release.
For example, Coldplay's Viva la Vida. Obviously, this deluxe edition with the Prospekt's March EP was planned, since it came out just 5 months after the album's release.
Still, this was an amazing album I revisited yesterday, and luckily, I didn't buy it at first, avoiding their blatant money grab.

#tuesdaytunes

A masterpiece! This is not only a love letter to DC Comics history, but a stark reflection of our current political times. Catwoman is released from prison 10 years after the death of Batman. Can she adjust to the new world order? Can she rely on old friends? Can she save her city?
Writer/artist/colorist/letterer Cliff Chiang (of Wonder Woman and Paper Girls) makes quite the statement with this project!

A steamboat captain saves an injured mermaid, but her situation isn't as innocent as it seems, and the boat's owner's promiscuity is hiding a complex secret.
What a wasted set-up!
Aside from this beautiful imprint under the dust jacket, I didn't like much about this book. The art was mostly bad, the main character looked like a muppet, and the story kinda sucked until around Page 300, but then it totally flubbed the ending. Very disappointing.

April #bookspin #bookspinbingo @Thearomaofbooks